Nights spent by foreign tourists in Finland decreased by 2.6
per cent in August

The number of nights spent by foreign tourists
at Finnish accommodation establishments decreased in August 2018.
Almost 754,000 nights spent were recorded for foreign visitors,
which was 2.6 per cent lower than twelve months earlier. In
contrast, the number of nights spent by resident tourists increased
by 2.5 per cent and they overnighted almost 1.6 million times at
accommodation establishments. In all, 2.3 million overnight stays
were recorded at Finnish accommodation establishments, which was
0.8 per cent more than in August 2017. These figures are
preliminary data from Statistics Finland’s statistics on
accommodation establishments and they have been collected from
accommodation establishments with at least 20 beds or caravan
pitches with electricity connection.

Change in overnight stays in August 2018/2017,
%

Overnight stays by visitors from Estonia and Spain increased
most in August

Finnish accommodation establishments recorded close on 24,000
overnight stays for Estonian tourists and good 27,000 for Spanish
visitors in August 2018. The number of nights spent by tourists
from Estonia increased by 12.4 per cent and those by Spanish
tourists by 10.0 per cent from August last year. The number of
recorded nights spent by Estonian visitors was highest in Uusimaa,
nearly 10,000. Overnight stays by Spanish tourists also took place
mainly in Uusimaa, where around 18,000 overnight stays were
recorded for them. Nearly 385,000 overnight stays by foreign
tourists were recorded in Uusimaa in August 2018, which was 2.5 per
cent lower than twelve months earlier. The share of Uusimaa in all
nights spent by foreign visitors was 51 per cent.

Russia, Germany and Sweden were the biggest countries of
inbound tourism in August

The top three continued strong, only the order changes. Russians
were the largest group of foreign tourists with nearly 91,000
overnight stays. The number was almost the same as one year before;
declining by just 0.1 per cent. Germans were the second biggest
group and nearly 89,000 overnight stays were recorded for them at
Finnish accommodation establishments, which was, however, 7.2 per
cent lower than one year before. Swedes were third with close on
75,000 nights spent. The number of their overnight stays was 2.6
per cent lower than in August 2017. Chinese tourists came fourth
with almost 42,000 recorded overnight stays. The number was 1.6 per
cent higher than last year.

Nights spent by visitors from almost all the most important
countries of inbound tourism to Finland decreased in August. The
biggest decreases came from Great Britain and the United States.
The overnight stays of British visitors decreased by 16.1 per cent
and those of visitors from the United States by 11.1 per cent from
last year's August. Slightly over 34,000 overnight stays were
recorded for British visitors at Finnish accommodation
establishments and good 36,000 for visitors from the United States.
Despite the decrease, they were the next biggest countries of
inbound tourism after China in August 2018.

Examined by region, the total number of overnight stays
increased in August most in Central Finland, up by 13.3 per cent.
In Kanta-Häme and Päijät-Häme, the growth in overnight stays
amounted to around nine per cent in each. Overnight stays in
Ostrobothnia went up by 7.0 per cent. By contrast, the total number
of overnight stays decreased in Varsinais-Suomi, by 6.6 per cent.
Overnight stays decreased in South Karelia, Etelä-Savo and Central
Ostrobothnia by around six per cent in each. In the whole country,
the number of overnight stays increased in total by 0.8 per cent
from August 2017.

Change in overnight stays in August by region
2018/2017, %

Overnight stays at hotels increased by 1.1 per cent in
August

In August 2018, the total number of nights spent in hotels was
good 1.7 million, which was 1.1 per cent higher than twelve months
earlier. Overnight stays by foreign tourists decreased by 3.2 per
cent and hotels recorded a total of 587,000 of them. In contrast,
overnight stays by resident tourists went up by 3.5 per cent and
totalled good 1.1 million.

The occupancy rate of hotel rooms was 60.2 per cent in August.
One year earlier, it was 62.2 per cent. Among the regions, the
highest occupancy rates of hotel rooms were measured in Uusimaa,
78.6 per cent, and in Varsinais-Suomi, 65.2 per cent. In Espoo, the
hotel room occupancy rate was 72.0 per cent and in Turku, 72.7 per
cent. The hotel room occupancy rate in Helsinki was 87.3 per
cent.

In August 2018, the realised average price of a hotel room was
EUR 101.98 per day for the whole country. Twelve months previously,
it was EUR 101.22.

Hotel room occupancy rate and the monthly average
price

Total number of nights spent at all accommodation
establishments grew by 1.5 per cent in January to August 2018

Between January and August 2018, the number of nights spent at
accommodation establishments in Finland totalled nearly 15.7
million. This was 1.5 per cent higher than in the corresponding
period one year earlier. In total, 10.9 million overnight stays
were recorded for resident tourists and close on 4.8 million for
non-resident tourists. The overnight stays of resident visitors
increased by 1.7 per cent and those of non-resident visitors by 0.9
per cent from the previous year's corresponding period.

As usual, Russians were still at the top. Their number of nights
spent at accommodation establishments in Finland was nearly 600,000
nights in January to August 2018, which was almost the same number
as in the respective period of 2017, up by just 0.1 per cent.
Germans came next. Overnight stays by German tourists decreased by
just 0.3 per cent and accommodation establishments recorded close
on 482,000 of them. Swedish tourists came third with 417,000
overnight stays. However, their number was 6.3 per cent lower than
in January to August 2017. British tourists came fourth and
accommodation establishments recorded around 308,000 overnight
stays for them, which was 2.7 per cent down on the respective
period of last year. French and Chinese visitors shared the fifth
position and 227,000 nights were recorded for both of them.
Overnight stays by French visitors increased by 7.4 per cent and
those by Chinese visitors by 2.7 per cent. The number of overnight
stays by visitors from the United States went over the limit of
200,000 and nearly 201,000 stays were recorded for them at
accommodation establishments, which was 3.5 per cent more than in
the corresponding period of the year before.

Among the most important countries of inbound tourism to
Finland, overnight stays by Spanish and Dutch visitors increased
most in January to August 2018. Nights spent by Spanish visitors
numbered good 112,000, which was 11.2 per cent more than in the
same period twelve months earlier. Overnight stays by Dutch
visitors rose to nearly 195,000. The number was 9.4 per cent higher
than in January to August 2017. The biggest drop came still from
overnight stays by Japanese visitors. They spent close on 140,000
nights at accommodation establishments, which was 12.7 per cent
down on the same period twelve months earlier.